This invention relates to intravenous (IV) infusion sets, and in particular to an IV infusion set with a protective sheath to prevent accidental needlesticks from such infusion sets.
Accidental needlesticks from contaminated medical equipment such as syringes and IV equipment pose a serious risk to health care professionals. Even maintenance personnel who dispose of the used medical equipment are at risk. Hepatitis and AIDS and other diseases can be, and sometimes are, transmitted by accidental needlesticks from needles used on infected patients.
Attempts have been made to combat the problem of accidental needlesticks from syringes. See for example the devices disclosed in our prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,654,034, 4,681,567, and 4,740,204. However until the present invention little, if anything, has been done to prevent needles sticks from IV equipment.